Dr. K
Bio
Dr Fouad Kiamilev is a Professor in the University of Delaware's Electrical and Computer Engineering Department and head of the CMOS VLSI Optimization Research Group - CVORG for short. He is also the head of the Circuit Breakers Hacker Space established in 2008. Dr K was an active member of DEFcon 16 - presenting a talk discussing the controversial topic of Hardware Trojans, ran a table in the Hardware Hacking Village which gave attendees an introduction to high end electronic hardware, and also managed to obtain prizes to give away in order to encourage the study of hardware and electronics by the security community.
What is CVORG?
CVORG was started by Professor Fouad Kiamilev at the University of North Carolina in 1992. The original CVORG acronym stood for CMOS VLSI Opto-Electronics Research Group. At that time, CVORG mission was to provide custom integrated circuits for photonics research community. Since 1992, we have designed integrated circuits or provided design assistance for numerous research programs. Among DARPA programs that we have supported are CO-OP, FSOIA, VLSI PHOTONICS, STAB, PWASSP, NEOCAD, OPTO-CENTERS, OMNET, PONI, POSH, CHEETAH, ACN, PCA, 3DIC, VHESC I, VHESC II, TEST and C2OI. U.S. Army and Air Force research projects that we have supported include Optical Fuzing, HWIL Systems, 3-D LADAR Imaging, and Optical Interconnects.
In 1999, CVORG relocated to University of Delaware where it has been operating ever since. In 2007, CVORG acronym was changed to CMOS VLSI Optimization Research Group. This modification was done to better reflect our new focus on power saving and power conversion methods for electrical devices that operate from power-limited power sources.
CVORG "Skunkworks"
The CVORG “Skunkworks” is a nickname for the lab spaces that the group occupies. Derived from the Lockheed Martin Skunk Works 1), the group jokingly uses the nickname to refer to the atmosphere that the lab creates. Parts mysteriously seem to find themselves disassembled and cannibalized into other projects. Members are encouraged to mess around with things and see where things take them.
